Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Garden Giants!

According to our local weatherman, big changes are on the horizon for next week! Mr. Squash and I are quite sad to say goodbye to wearing shorts and back to long pants! It's been a gorgeous summer here and we are sad to see it end. That being said, I LOVE Fall!

So, this will probably be my last garden post for the year. We can't believe how huge everything is! We've probably picked at least 75 pounds of tomatoes - and close to the same in zucchini's!

Mr. Squash put out my little garden Jack o' Lanterns the other day! I didn't think we were going to get any pumpkins this year, but........look what's hiding under one end! Aren't they incredible? I'm, crossing my fingers they turn orange before Halloween!

But wait! There is another one on the other end!

Here is what the veggie garden looks like on the west side of the yard. That's Mr. Giant Beanstalk on the left - Blue Lake green beans - my favorite! To the right of that is an English cucumber, and the two giants in the middle are tomatoes! I've cut them down from the top at least a half dozen times this summer otherwise they would take their cages down with them! There are also some pepper plants poked in around the tomatoes - we've had a bumper crop of Jalapenos!

Check out the Dahlia's! Some are taller than me! I must find a better staking system next year!

More Dahlia's and both grapes made it up and over the top of the trellis this year. Next year they might even bear fruit!

Perennials are beginning to feel the onset of dormancy. They gave us a beautiful show this year!

Check out this giant Brussels Sprout bush! It has 6 other brothers and sisters! I hope the little sprouts get big enough to eat soon!

Have you ever seen rhubarb still growing in September? I can't keep up with it. I'm going to try picking and freezing the rest.

These are the last two zucchini's - a green and a yellow. I pulled a lot more earlier in the summer as they were taking over everything else!

The alyssum under the new roses we planted this year started out as tiny plugs from the nursery. We don't do anything special to them - they just happily get huge!

Last post I mentioned something very special happened here at the Squash House last week. While my SIL and her husband were here, we witnessed a mother squirrel try to teach her baby how to walk across the top of the fence and up a utility pole and onto the adjacent tree! None of us had ever seen anything like it! She would occasionally grab baby in her mouth by the scruff of his neck and carry him. When he finally made it to the top of the pole - he fell all the way down (30 ft) - but survived only to get to the top again! It was truly miraculous! I made a video of it, which is very rough, but have a look if you're interested! Don't worry, baby falling is not included! Also, I has trouble editing it, so the end is a tad rough.

Your garden is so nice! We didn't plant anything this year. I miss having everything but it was so hot and dry this summer, it's probably just as well. Your squirrels are amazing! So fun to watch her teach her baby.

Holy Smokes those are gorgeous BIG pumpkins. Your yard is certainly deserving of being on a Home and Garden Tour! :o) No bumper crops here. Too much rain this Spring. I just love Dahlia too. Have you ever been to the Dahlia farm...I think it's called Swan Island and it's out past Canby, Oregon somewhere.

Loved your squirrely video. Ha! We have a family that lives under the eaves of our screened porch. Every year a family is raised and Mama trains her babies how to climb etc so I get a show out my kitchen window every spring. What is funny is that 3-4 babies play chase the tail around and around on the screen. For some reason they don't tear the screen although I cringe when I see them do it.

wow you sure can grow great gardens in your part of the country. Looking good.that video was something else. It looked like my was being mean to the baby the way she was dragging it around but I guess that is the way they teach them to climb.so glad he didn't get hurt when he fell.

Looking gorgeous! Here Nature is topsy turvey giving us 24C Summer shorts weather. All Summer we were wanting thia and it didn't come. At last the wheat and hay is being cut, so I hope farmers can selvedge something from such a late season.

I've got pears and apples still on the trees but they can wait until it is cool again. (I've been too busy to get them in.)

So proud you two farmers should be! What an amazing bounty you've got for all your very hard work--and much more to come, apparently. We have two avocados on our tree, two cherry tomato plants that were given to us (one of which looks dead), and a volunteer corn plant that isn't likely to produce any fruit. Gardeners were are not, lol!

I hope your big beautiful pumpkins turn orange in time for Halloween :)Everything in the garden looks so lush and green! Thank you for sharing your garden pictures all through the growing season. It was so much fun! Thank you for that cute video of Squirrel and her baby. I have to show it to Kalyan when he comes home :) Happy Autumn!